Architecture in the United States. 105 
thoughts, his very soul; he then surrendered himself to the subject 
and he could not go wrong: in the other, taste was sacrificed for ef- 
fect, and profusion of ornament must supply what was wanting in de- 
sign. Indeed, so far is great wealth from being necessary to a flour- 
ishing state of architecture, that from its temptation to excess of or- 
nament, it is rather an injury than a benefit. Simplicity, not splen-. 
dor, must be the governing principle ; and for this we have abundant 
means. At the time when Athens erected. most of her celebrated 
temples, she had not half the population, or half the resources, and, 
probably, not half the wealth now possessed by New York. 
Athens! our feelings kindle at the name. Much of this is no 
doubt owing to the “ men of renown” whom she has produced. De- 
mosthenes, and Plato, and Socrates would have given imperishable | 
interest to any place. But take away the Acropolis, and the tem- 
ples at its base, and what a chilling influence would it have on our 
feelings ; transfer them to any other spot, and that spot will be an 
Athens to us. If the effect on our feelings after this lapse of time, 
and at this distance,—if the effect of ruins is so great, what must have 
been the influence upon the ancient Athenians themselves. The 
ancients understood these feelings well, and in the days of calamity 
and danger, each country looked to them as its strongest safeguard. 
The magnificence and grandeur of their temples attached the hearts 
of the people no less than the august character of their gods : to each 
citizen they were the objects of wonder in childhood, of deep vene- 
ration in after years ; his just pride and boast: he gazed them, 
the monuments of his country’s piety, and her honor; he felt him- 
self a sharer in their glory ; his feelings became warmed, expanded, 
refined and ennobled ; his attachment to his nation grew strong, and 
pure, and active ; nd he, who would otherwise have been 2 being of 
sélfish and wabieected views, was now a devoted and um 
patriot. It was to these feelings their orators appealed, when they 
' wished to rouse them to action, and no other appeals were so effect- 
ual. These were a bond of union, unseen, but powerful : they nerv- 
ed the arm, and steeled the heart: they were the last to fail ; they 
followed the captive to other lands, and clung to him till death. 
Some of these feelings we need, perhaps more than we suspect. I 
should like to see the character of our nation analyzed by some able 
hand, for it has already begun to form ; I believe that — an analy- 
sis, one that would give us credit for our merits, and encourage us 
in them, and would at the same time, boldly, yet kindly, exhibit our 
Vor. XVIL—No. 1. 14 
